Feature Channels: Engineering

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Although a significant build-up in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would alter worldwide precipitation patterns, geoengineering would also interfere with rainfall and snowfall. An international study, led by NCAR scientists, finds that “geoengineering” could result in monsoonal rains in North America, East Asia, and other regions dropping by 5-7 percent compared to preindustrial conditions because of less evaporation and reduced plant emissions of water.

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Iowa State engineers have developed 3-D teleconferencing technology that's live, real-time and streaming at 30 frames per second. They say the technology could be ready for smart phones in a few years.

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Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a novel dynamic testing system for characterizing and evaluating the structural condition of short- to medium-span bridges – structures up to 300 feet long.

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Columbia Engineering researchers have developed a new approach to designing novel nanostructured materials through an inverse design framework using genetic algorithms. The study, published in PNAS’s October 28 Early Online edition, is the first to demonstrate the application of this methodology to the design of self-assembled nanostructures, and could help speed up the materials discovery process. It also shows the potential of machine learning and “big data” approaches.

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Although an irregular heartbeat is a common malady in the United States, affecting an estimated 5 million people, the treatments for it are limited in scope and effectiveness. Now, Igor Efimov, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis, is studying a new potential treatment that may be much more effective and less painful for patients.

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If the U.S. is to meet important challenges of the 21st century, a new paradigm for the building and retrofitting of critical pipeline infrastructure system will be required, one that addresses the conflicting goals of diverse economic, environment, societal, and policy interests, according to Sunil Sinha of Virginia Tech's College of Engineering who has led the development of a National Pipeline Infrastructure Database.

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A University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) aerospace engineering undergraduate student’s idea for a new, more efficient way to package rocket engines has won him and two UAH professors a recent patent.

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Putting new super-efficient rooftop HVAC units in broad use would be about equal to taking 700,000 cars off the road each year in terms of saved energy and reduced pollution, according to a new study.

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Nanoscale engineering boosts performance of quantum dot light emitting diodes

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Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego have created a new method for analyzing RNA transcripts from samples of 50 to 100 cells. The approach could be used to develop inexpensive and rapid methods for diagnosing cancers at early stages, as well as better tools for forensics, drug discovery and developmental biology.

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Jellyfish are one of the most energetically efficient natural propulsors on the planet, according to Shashank Priya, professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. He led a study highlighting the motion of the jellyfish. The work appeared in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Humans rarely walk the straight and narrow; something's always in the way. So Michigan Tech scientists are developing a computer-controlled artificial limb that can turn like a flesh-and-blood foot.

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A senior design class and the Office of Technology Commercialization at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are working with an 89-year old former von Braun rocket team member on a device that will make semi trucks turn better.

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The University of Washington is working with Boeing and an Everett company to build a carbon-fiber submersible that will carry five passengers almost 2 miles deep.

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For years scientists have been working to fundamentally understand how nanoparticles move throughout the human body. One big unanswered question is how the shape of nanoparticles affects their entry into cells. Now researchers have discovered that under typical culture conditions, mammalian cells prefer disc-shaped nanoparticles over those shaped like rods.

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Researchers in Japan have developed a new photodiode that can detect in just milliseconds a certain type of high-energy ultraviolet light, called UVC, which is powerful enough to break the bonds of DNA and harm living creatures. The researchers describe their new device in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

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A team led by the University of Washington has developed a programming language for chemistry that it hopes will streamline efforts to design a network that can guide the behavior of chemical-reaction mixtures in the same way that embedded electronic controllers guide cars, robots and other devices. The findings were published online Sept. 29 in Nature Nanotechnology.

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A problem developing more efficient organic LED light bulbs and displays is that much of the light is trapped within the light-emitting diode, or LED. University of Utah physicists believe they have solved the problem by creating a new organic molecule that is shaped like rotelle – wagon-wheel pasta – rather than spaghetti.

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A Missouri S&T researcher has developed a new feedback system to remotely control mobile robots. This research will allow robots to operate with minimal supervision and could eventually lead to a robot that can learn or even become autonomous.

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A space-based laser system proposed to NASA by University of Alabama in Huntsville researchers could be a cost-effective way to nudge small asteroids away from a collision course with Earth.

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A lens invented at The Ohio State University combines the focusing ability of a human eye with the wide-angle view of an insect eye to capture images with depth.

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New research shows that the catalyst used in the latest catalytic converters attacks its target pollutant in an unusual way, providing insight into how to make the best catalytic converters.

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Researchers from Columbia Engineering and Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a series of clues that particular arrangements of electrical charges known as “stripes” may play a role in superconductivity, using a method to detect fluctuating stripes of charge density in a material closely related to a superconductor.

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A weekly news magazine that has been around since before Time began celebrates its 90th anniversary this week with a special issue commemorating chemistry’s contributions over the past nine decades to medicine, industry and other scientific advances that have improved people’s lives. The magazine, Chemical & Engineering News, a publication of American Chemical Society (ACS), is also sponsoring a slew of celebratory events at the 246th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Indianapolis.

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University of Utah electrical engineers have developed a network of wireless sensors that can detect a person falling. This monitoring technology could be linked to a service that would call emergency help for the elderly without requiring them to wear monitoring devices.

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This new flexible patch treatment can quicken drug delivery time while cutting waste, and can likely minimize side-effects in some cases, notable in vaccinations and in cancer therapy.

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University of Michigan researchers today released seven technical reports that together form the most comprehensive Michigan-focused resource on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural gas and oil extraction process commonly known as fracking.

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A Kansas State University chemical engineering team has discovered that a new member of the ultrathin materials family has great potential to improve electronic and thermal devices. The researchers studied molybdenum disulfide and found that manipulating it with gold atoms improves its electrical characteristics.

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Computer Science Professor Shree Nayar has launched Bigshot, a kit that features a build-it-yourself digital camera designed to serve as both a creative tool and a medium for education. It’s accompanied by an in-depth website that includes an interactive textbook with engaging demos of science and engineering concepts related to the camera. Nayar will use some of his royalties to donate cameras to kids in underprivileged communities through his program Bigshots for Good.

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An international team of engineers, led by scientists from Drexel University's College of Engineering, have developed a way to measure electron band offset in nanodevices using laser spectroscopy.

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When a beating heart slips into an irregular, rhythm, the treatment is electric current from a pacemaker or defibrillator. But the electricity itself can cause pain, tissue damage and other side-effects. Now, researchers want to replace jolts with a gentler remedy: light.

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The pavement recipe for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500, could be used to improve the smoothness, durability and safety of some of the 2 million miles of paved roads and streets where people move at ordinary speeds, scientists said here today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, being held here this week.

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Already noted for saving gasoline and having zero emissions, electric cars have quietly taken on an unlikely new dimension –– the ability to reach blazing speeds that rival the 0-to-60 performance of a typical Porsche or BMW, and compete on some race courses with the world’s best gasoline-powered cars, an authority said here today at a major scientific conference.

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A scientist at Michigan Tech has developed a new, inexpensive material that could replace the platinum in solar cells without degrading their efficiency.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have devised a quantum algorithm for solving big linear systems of equations. Furthermore, they say the algorithm could be used to calculate complex measurements such as radar cross sections, an ability integral to the development of radar stealth technology, among many other applications. Their research is reported in the June 18 issue of Physical Review Letters.

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Virginia Tech researchers integrated a specific type of sensor into a typical construction helmet to allow continuous and noninvasive monitoring of construction workers’ blood gas saturation levels. The results of their study showed that a user of this helmet would be warned of impending carbon monoxide poisoning with a probability of greater than 99 percent, and won them a Best Paper award.

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As demand climbs for more fuel-efficient vehicles, knowledge compiled over several years about diesel engines and a new strategy known as “low-temperature combustion” (LTC) might soon lead auto manufacturers and consumers to broader use of cleaner diesel engines in the United States.

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LakeSim, a prototype computational framework combining scientific modeling with city planning tools, will help developers design the large-scale urban projects of the 21st century, including the 600-acre Lakeside Development on Chicago's South Side.

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University of Adelaide researchers are developing low-cost technology which can ‘talk’ to structures like bridges and aeroplanes to monitor their structural health and assess them for damage.

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To understand how solar cells heal themselves, look no further than the nearest tree leaf or the back of your hand. NC State University researchers have developed a regenerative solar cell that uses branching channels to best mimic natural processes.

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A flexible nano-scaffold could help make rechargeable lithium ion batteries last longer. Applications range from improved cell phone batteries to electric cars that can travel farther on a charge.

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The splash from rain hitting a windowpane or printer ink hitting paper all comes down to tiny droplets hitting a surface, and what each of those droplets does. Cornell University researchers have produced a high-resolution “photo album” of more than 30 shapes an oscillated drop of water can take. The results, a fundamental insight into how droplets behave, could have applications in everything from inkjet printing to microfluidics.

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Advanced x-ray technique reveals surprising quantum excitations that persist through materials with or without superconductivity.

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Manufacturers of gas turbine engines are experimenting with higher operating temperatures to improve engine efficiency. Working with the support of GE, Iowa State engineers are developing new tests and technologies to find cooling solutions.

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ENERGY – Green battery. PROSTHETICS – Better fit, function. MATERIALS – Best of both worlds.

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If the mission sounds impossible, that's because it is—at least with today's technology: Build a three-pound flying machine that can, under its own control, take off, fly through a window into a model building, avoid security lasers, navigate the halls, recognize signs, enter the correct room, find a flash drive in a box on a desk, pick it up, leave a decoy, exit and land in under 10 minutes.

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Earthquakes never occur when you need one, so a team led by Johns Hopkins structural engineers is shaking up a building themselves in the name of science and safety. Using massive moving platforms and an array of sensors and cameras, the researchers are trying to find out how well a two-story building made of cold-formed steel can stand up to a lab-generated Southern California quake.